Toad Spawn
by KittyKingdom
Summary: Harry knew there was something wrong with Neville's Toad.
1. Prologue: Getting Toad

**Prologue: Getting Toad  
**

"Has anyone seen a toad? A boy named _Neville's_ lost one." Hermione asked in a bossy tone.

That moment right there, that little _seemingly_ un-important moment, led Harry to a life of suspicion through out his first few years at Hogwarts. Looking back on it, it _should_ have been a tender moment. Three best friends, meeting for the first time; sappy stuff, you know what I mean? But out of all the thoughts and first impressions a person can have in this instant, Harry's first thought was;

' _How does someone lose a toad?'_

It was a curious thought, a musing, if you will. Harry didn't dwell on it long at that moment, the thought floating away quickly with everything going on. It wasn't till Harry was settled in Hogwarts, Gryffindor House, when the thought resurfaced again.

Neville was _always_ losing his toad. Everyone mostly chalked it up to Neville being extremely forgetful but Harry knew better. While Neville was clumsy, he rarely _ever_ made the same mistake twice. Watching him in class and sharing a dorm room made Harry realize this. Neville was the type of person who had to do it all the wrong ways first before he got it right. When he got it wrong, _which was often_ , he would _learn_. After this discovery, a deep rooted suspicion planted itself in Harry's mind.

' _How does he keep losing that toad?'_

His question was never answered in his first year, but in his free time he _pondered_. Neville always got so depressed when he lost his toad, so he must have learned (from his mistakes) how the toad kept getting away. Harry was doubtful the frog could have thought of a different getaway route each time. So, _how_ was the toad escaping?

He really had no idea.

The whole thing with Quirrell and Voldemort blew over and Harry found himself in the library one evening. He was trying, and failing, to clear his head. Voldemort really shook him up and he needed a quite place to readjust himself. He sought peace and a clear head but got a distraction instead.

His precious silence was cut by a croak. Looking over, he saw the toad, Trevor, sitting on top of an open book. They stared at each other and Harry wondered why the library of all places was where a toad wanted to be. Shuffling closer, Harry looked down to the book that was lying open. Squinting, Harry noticed runes covering the pages.

Being raised by muggles meant Harry didn't know too much about the magical realm. Though, he did have a brief discussion about them with Hermione, who was already planning to take the class in their third year.

"What do you need runes for, huh?" Harry asked the toad, mostly humoring himself that the toad would answer. Trevor croaked again. Harry raised an eyebrow, picked up the book (Trevor haltingly jumping off onto the desk) and skimmed the page. He barely understood any of it, only recognizing the heading for the chapter which was in English. It read; _Time._ Underneath were a whole bunch of swiggled circles that Harry couldn't decipher. Sitting down Harry continued flipping through the book, Trevor coming to hop on to his shoulder. He glanced at the toad there and the toad looked back evenly. Harry rose to his feet and put the book back on the shelf, trying and failing to not be overly paranoid.

"Let's get you back to Neville."

Later that evening Harry asked Hermione if toads could read and Ron fell to the ground laughing his butt off. That irked him, if only a little, it wasn't his fault he was ignorant! His second year passed in a blur and he was to busy worrying about him being "Salazar's heir" to worry about Trevor much. The next year though, his third, he felt he had adjusted enough to the point where he could multitask through the chaos that was his life.

When Harry learned the shocking truth of what an animagus was he confronted the toad called Trevor. Leaving his dormitory in the middle of the night Harry found Trevor sitting on the plush red arm chair facing the fire in the common room. Harry sat in an armchair across and stared the toad down.

"I know what you are." Harry said calmly

Trevor croaked innocently. Yeah, the conversation went _no where_. It took a week for Harry to track somebody down and teach him the spell to force an animagus transformation. It ended up being Snape, which was actually an interesting story; one that involved Fred and George, a rubber chicken, a real chicken and glitter, but that was a story for another day.

Harry tried the spell on Trevor and too his disappointment, nothing happened. Well, he didn't really feel _disappointment_ , per se. It was a relief to know that there wasn't another disguised person creeping in the boy's dormitory. Though, his failure in figuring out the darn toad made a screw loosen just a tad in Harry's brain.

"Don't pretend to be all innocent," Harry hissed, "I will figure you out, and when I do there will be stuff going down."

Satisfied with the threat, Harry nodded and stalked away from the toad which let out a load croak. Fourth year was nuts with the Triwizard tournament, Voldemort returning and other nutty things so Harry skipped another year of his "toad paranoia". But come his fifth year, he was ready.

Fueled with bad dreams and teenage angst, Harry was prepared to unravel the mystery of Trevor. In his findings, he had reason to be suspicious of Neville also. Trevor continued to "sit" on the rune books in the library but one day Harry saw Neville himself _also_ studying runes. A quick conversation with Hermione proved the Neville wasn't even taking the class. Harry's suspicion peaked.

After Umbridge found out about their secret DA classes and Dumbledore was forced to leave the school, Harry's paranoia sky rocketed. He had to figure it out; he had enough to worry about with Voldemort and Umbridge running about. Harry briefly entertained the thought that Trevor was Umbridge's great grandson (because of the _undeniable_ family resemblance) but quickly dismissed the thought as ludicrous.

As far as he knew Neville was just a boy with his toad. So " _innocent_ ". Harry wasn't buying it, he refused. He took to following Neville around in his invisibility cloak but Neville always seemed to loose him. It was like he _knew_ he was there! He was going to have to step it up a notch or else he would live forever with this mystery hanging over his head. Harry laughed evilly in his head.

"Um, Harry? Are you okay?"

Think of the devil and he shall appear, _it was Neville_! Harry gave a dashing smile and Neville nervously shuffled his feet.

"Why of course Nev, I'm smashing!" Harry was sure he didn't suspect a thing "is your –ehm- _toad_ with you?" He asked suspiciously, his eyes darting towards Neville's pockets in paranoia. Neville discreetly started to sweat and Harry straightened in alarm his eyes narrowing.

"Ah—I've lost him again Harry." Neville said, his voice small.

Harry glared before collapsing in a Gryffindor common room chair with a flair and a dramatic groan.

"Your toad ails me Neville!" Harry cried in agony, making many people look strangely at him. Neville stared concerned before approaching timidly and awkwardly patting Harry's leg that was draped precariously over the arm of the comfy chair.

"Just let me know if you need to talk, okay?" Neville said with a hesitant smile before leaving the common room. Harry cracked one eye open and stared at all his house mates staring back. He slowly got up from his chair and walked in circles burning holes into peoples back and faces making them sweat.

"There's something going on here." Harry hissed, "and I'm going to be the first to figure it out!"

He stomped out of the common room and everyone stared at each other in bafflement.

"Harry's gone mad, I tell you! Maybe Voldemort really _is_ back. The stress is getting to him!" Someone whispered and others hummed in agreement.

Later that month in the middle of the night Neville creeped out of bed, putting on his shoes and leaving the fifth year dormitory with a click. As soon as the door shut Harry's head bounced off his pillow, his eyes twitching madly. All of those sleepless nights finally paid off! He finally caught Neville in his nefarious toad escapement! Harry stumbled out of his four poster bed and dug in his trunk for the marauders map and his invisibility cloak.

He quickly threw on his cloak and activated the map, following after Neville; but not to close. He always seemed to _know_ he was there. It was infuriating!

At one point Harry decided to crouch behind a suit of armor and intently gaze at the map waiting for Neville to reach his final destination; when Neville promptly vanished, Harry blinked in surprise. It was then that Harry's heart skipped a beat and a very muggle light bulb ' _pinged_ ' in his head.

"Of course." Harry breathed. Neville was part of the DA! He was using the room of requirement for his toad deeds! They were no longer meeting there but that didn't mean the room still couldn't be changed and used.

Harry raced to the entrance, tripping once or twice making some hallway portraits screech in alarm. Soon he was before the door of the room of requirement. Or the non door, _soon to be door_ …whatever! Outside there was an unconscious guard that Umbridge set up after finding the room, though he wasn't sure _why_ she bothered.

Harry paced back in forth like a mad man trying to think of what password Neville could possibly be using. He tried many, but to no avail. Finally, he took to hitting the wall with his fists and throwing spells at it when he dared. About to resort to kicking Harry saw the door materializing. Waiting with bated breath, Harry lunged through the crack in the door tackling Neville to the ground who shrieked. (in another universe, Harry got his eye poked out by Neville's wand for his trouble)

Harry quickly got up from on top of Neville and took in the room. There was a giant rune painted in red paint across the ground; Trevor sitting right in the middle of it. Pointing with his finger at the guilty toad, Harry laughed;

"Hah! I knew it!" Harry spun around to point at Neville who lay, sprawled awkwardly on the ground, "Hah! HAH!"

He spun around and continued to stomp around the room screaming hah! at the top of his lungs; Neville staring off in horror and Trevor gazing at him unimpressed.

"I knew there was something going on, and look what I find," Harry crouched and pointed dramatically at the red rune,' _this_!"

"Harry, its not what it looks like!" Neville cried jumping to his feet and waving his arms earnestly. Harry stared at Neville and suddenly all his paranoia washed away and a grin broke out on his face. This, however, made Neville freak out more, but before anything too crazy could happen; Harry rested both hands on Neville's shoulders and calmly spoke with a surprisingly clear head;

"Neville, my suspicion of your toad and you are an extension of the stress I have felt since my birth quickly followed by murder… _I am a troubled soul!_ "

Both Neville and Harry's eyes filled with tears and they bro hugged it out till the sun set, a back drop of YOUTH following the scene.

…

 **Just kidding, this is what really happened.**

" _I knew there was something going on, and look what I find," Harry crouched and pointed dramatically at the red rune,' this!"_

Neville stood up from his position on the floor and tried to explain but much to Harry's surprise, The Toad spoke. Harry spun around and stared bug eyed at the devious amphibian.

"Don't bother kid, there's a high concentration of magic centered in his head, he's probably possessed." Trevor's voice was deep and gravely, and actually kind of manly. Harry glared fiercely;

"You're the one possessed! Tell me, are you Voldemort? Is the back of someone's head not good enough for you!"

At this moment in time it never occurred to Harry that Voldemort wouldn't need to posses a toad now that he had a body, so he continued to rant. Neville tried to grab Harry's arm and he wrenched it out of his touch and glared at the "Death Eater". He started to back away and Neville lunged;

"Wait, Harry!"

Neville's jerky movement made Harry lurch back in alarm, doing exactly what Neville was trying to avoid. To make matters worse, Neville tripped, unintentionally tackling the both of them on the giant red rune. Trevor gave a croaky yelp as the magic from the two collided onto the rune and they all vanished in a puff of smoke, two wands clattering on the empty floor.

Deep in the dungeons, in the Slytherin fifth year dormitory Draco Malfoy jolted awake. He suddenly remembered that he never took the paranoia charm off Harry Potter in their first year in retaliation after he refused his friendship. Sitting and drowsily pondering why this was coming to mind now, he rolled his eyes and drifted off to sleep; disappointed that spells like that wear off after a couple hours.

Unless, of course, you're a living horcrux…then it tends to stick around for awhile and _grow_. Especially if the spell caster has good enough aim to get you _right_ were it resides. Malfoy would never know that he played a big part in the cause of Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom's vanishing act.

Too bad.

* * *

 **Coming Soon;** Chapter 1; _Ribbiting Revelations_


	2. Ribbitting Revelations

Wow! So much support for this story! Thank you everyone! I hope this chapter reaches expectations.

 **Warning:** Authors attempt at angst.

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Ribbitting Revelations**

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 **Mount Myoboku**

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When Trevor woke up he knew he was back home. He could instantly feel the nature chakra of Mount Myoboku flooding his system and he almost wept at the feeling. Returning to his frog body was, quite possibly, a _miracle_. While the 'magic' of the other world kept his other body alive, it barely did much else. That's why he was forced to survive in such a little _pathetic_ form.

Allowing his body to stretch out, he basked in the feeling of being filled to the brim with chakra. With a laugh he hopped up and bound in great leaps through the lush greenery of Mount Myoboku, reveling in the feeling of being his full size once again; which was about the height of standard humans legs, ending at the waist.

He whooped as he sailed over a waterfall and cannoned balled into the water at the bottom. Swimming and enjoying himself under water he broke to the surface and made his way to land. Forcing himself to be serious, despite his ecstatic state, Trevor quickly ' _poofed_ ' away from the paradise that was his home and landed right in a mans lap.

Said man jerked at the intrusion, his lunch falling on top of himself; much to his annoyance. In a white flash, Trevor was flung towards a wall, catching himself easily and landing with a spring on the floor. The air cackled intensely before calming when the white haired man recognized the frog. The mans eyes widened soon after and he exclaimed loudly;

"Kaeru?!"

"Yes, Jiraiya, it's me." The frog answered gruffly, his tone sounding both fond and annoyed at the same time. Jiraiya spluttered comically his eyes bugging out. Trevor could barely make out his sentences but he ultimately caught the jist. (ninja. seals. fight. explosion. alive?)

" _Yes_ , you imbecile! I am alive! No thanks to your crappy excuse for a seal!"

Jiraiya continued to babble before his eyes narrowed slightly and he gasped indignantly; "My seals are perfect!"

"Explain how I found myself in another dimension then!?" Trevor croaked in outrage, his chest straightening up. Jiraiya's mouth fell open and he was left speechless before his eyes lit up and he shuffled through his pockets before procuring a notebook. Cracking it open, he shuffled the pages before stopping, preparing his pen, and staring at Trevor seriously;

"How very interesting. Do you think we could re-create that?"

Trevor's eye twitched furiously before his tongue flung out, fast as lightening, and smacked the notebook out of Jiraiya's hands, making it soar comically across the room.

" _This isn't school_! We have a serious problem on our hands!" Trevor roared. Jiraiya sniffed, slightly miffed before crossing his arms seriously.

"The only dimension type travel I have heard of is an eye technique from the Uchiha, and only a select few can use it…if your telling the truth," Jiraiya trailed off, tone serious, before giving Trevor a double thumbs up and smiling widely, "then that means I'm a freaking _genius!_ "

Jiraiya was frog tongue slapped for his _insolence_ and Trevor yelled back bitingly;

"It wasn't genius if it was an accident _moron_!"

Jiraiya rubbed his slimy cheek, pouting and glaring at Trevor who stared back exasperated. The two glared at each other before their lips started twitching then busting up in loud guffaws of laughter. Approaching Trevor, Jiraiya wiped tears from his eyes and sat in a meditative position on the floor in front of the frog. All frustration and anger washed away and they smiled at each other.

"I'm sorry." Jiraiya said and Trevor blinked in surprise, "I missed you. I thought you had died, I even went and apologized too Fukasaku and Gamamaru, I felt so horrible."

Trevor closed his eyes and the both of them started channeling nature chakra between the other. Both of their shoulders un-tensed and they smiled over the familiarity of the bond that was still there.

"We were partners since you first became one with the toads on Mount Myoboku," Trevor said his eyes bright, before chuckling and tilting his head curiously, "What did the Great and Honorable Geezer have to say about my ' _death'_?"

Jiraiya's lip twitched; "He was annoyingly cryptic as usual, but thinking back on it, that old sage probably knew you were still alive, _that old coot_."

They both shared a laugh before the mood turned somber and Trevor began to explain his tale. He left out Neville for the moment and explained the other dimension the best he could.

"It was the _strangest_ place, they had things similar to us…but things were so different _ultimately_ that it was almost impossible to navigate myself. I eventually stumbled upon runes, which is basically the equivalent of seals here, if a tad different. It took about five years but I was finally able to construct a seal I felt happy with. I was so lucky I had that canister of your blood sealed with me, for some of your fighting techniques. If I didn't, I would have had no connection to anchor myself with this world."

Trevor paused for breath and Jiraiya looked impressed; "So you managed that? All by yourself? In such a tiny form?"

Trevor sighed and shook his head; "That's what the emergency is. I made a friend and he helped me acquire a lot of the materials I needed. He helped me draw the seal, but then we were interrupted by his psycho friend, who was under a mind jutsu of some kind and screwed everything up!"

Trevor groaned in annoyance, grumbling to himself. Jiraiya's brow came together and he frowned; "If everything got messed up, why are you here, safe and sound?"

Trevor pondered for a moment; "We can only guess. The seal was anchored and drawn specifically for me. When they fell on the seal, their magic must have triggered it. I was probably safe because I was written so detailed into the seal, but anything could have happened to the two boys."

Jiraiya blinked before cursing under his breath; " _Boys_?"

Trevor hung his head in shame; "I was at a _school_ and I didn't have very many resources. They were about fifteen years of age but they weren't raised in a military country. They are basically _children_."

The two fell in another somber silence. Jiraiya looked at his friend with sad eyes;

"If they survived and were dropped someplace they're as good as dead."

Trevor flinched and glared at Jiraiya, whose hands came up in surrender. Shaking his head slowly, Jiraiya sighed harshly; "Lots of things have changed since you were last here Kaeru. We are in the middle of an all out shinobi _war_."

Trevor flew up in shock, clinging to the ceiling and looking down at Jiraiya in horror.

" _What!_?"

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 **In An Unknown Location**

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When Harry became more aware the first thing he noticed was his head splitting head ache. The second thing he noticed, which considerably out weighed the other, was the complete and utter _lack_ of magic; in him, in the things around him, _everywhere_. His whole body shook, like he was in freezing water. His mind was screaming at him that something was wrong **wrong** _wrong_ WRONG!

Shifting in out of consciousness, Harry could barely focus on any thing else but the lack of magic. The only thing he registered was the faint presence of somebody near before he was overcome and lost consciences.

After crying for an unrecognizable amount of time, Neville woke up from his magic-less panic and righted himself. Looking over he clearly saw another person lying agonizingly sprawled. He didn't recognize the young boy, but with a jolt he did recognize something on the little boy's forehead; the lightening bolt scar. Neville stared at the scar, his mind putting together torn apart pieces of knowledge that were barely fringing on the edges of his brain. Coming up with an answer to the current mess they found themselves, Neville nodded, before curling up in a pitiful ball and remembering when everything in his life got fanatical.

It all started when Neville jut received his Hogwarts letter. Everyone came over to celebrate, and with his birthday so close to the upcoming school year, everyone brought presents. He enjoyed the time immensely, even if he was a bit bashful, but he thanked his family and all of his Grans friends. But his favorite gift came later, when his uncle came into town that weekend.

With him he brought Trevor. Neville always wanted a toad. He knew they were old fashioned but he felt strangely attached to the strange amphibians and he was absolutely ecstatic when he got one to take to Hogwarts. Neville didn't really have, well _, friends_ ; so he spent the weeks approaching term chatting the poor frog to death. It made him so happy, he knew he was probably being biased, but he swore Trevor actually paid attention and knew what he was saying. (Hah! If only he knew at the time!)

Neville felt as though Trevor and he forged a strong bond in those weeks before Hogwarts. But it all shattered when he actually got there and Trevor started disappearing. It didn't take long for him to notice it wasn't accidents on his part but Trevor was escaping on _purpose_. This made him fall in to a deep depression.

All the boys in his year paired off and he was left the third wheel with no friends. Hermione was nice to him but he was to shy to do much and once she started hanging with Ron and Harry he didn't see her that often. One day he couldn't take it and ditched class to cry in bed. He felt _pathetic_ , he didn't have friends and not even his pet toad wanted to be around him.

That was how Trevor found Neville that day, sobbing into his pillow. It was then that Trevor made a snap decision to trust the boy with his secret.

That day is the day that Neville remembered as the day he gained a true friend. He didn't care if his toad was from a different dimension and could talk. Actually, he thought that was pretty darn cool! The more Trevor told him about his world the cooler it became and Neville was astounded when Trevor told him what his actual size was. Plus, Ninja? Neville would sit in rapture every time Trevor got chatting.

But Neville broke from his musing with a troubled mumble. He glanced at the boy, who he assumed was Harry. His eyes fluttered open and they stared at each other for a long time. Neville pondered about what Trevor said was true and if he really was 'possessed'. The Harry now looked the calmest Neville had ever seen him, which was saying a lot considering the circumstances.

Harry gazed at the white haired boy before him without really seeing him. his mind and body was still adjusting to the change, and though his body still agonized at the lack of magic, there was one thing that startled him. It was how _clear_ his head was. He felt like a giant handicap was removed from his mind and he was left scrambling with and wondering at why why _why_ was his head so clear.

Briefly he stared at the other boys moving lips but he heard no words. He tried to shake the feeling of the ringing in his ears and focus;

"-okay? Harry, it's me Neville."

Harry blinked in response but gave no other indication that he understood. The white haired boy he was staring at sat up from his position on the floor and Harry shakily mirrored him.

"Neville?" Harry's voice cracked, the small pitch of his voice startled him but the thought was lost when the white haired boy nodded. Why did he look like that? Polyjuice potion? It was then that Harry was able to recognize his surroundings to the full extent. The first thing he registered was his robes, which were bringing back memories of having to wear Dudley's cast offs. Bringing up his hands Harry blinked at the tiny things he was met with, opposed to his bigger hands.

Unbeknownst to Harry, Neville was doing the exact same thing. At the same time both of the boys raised their eyes and stared at each other in horror.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Harry and Neville screamed at the same time. Harry jumped to his feet;

"Why do we look like this?!"

Neville moved to stand up just like Harry but his foot caught in his to long robe and he tripped, once again taking down Harry along side him. Thankfully there wasn't a rune to fall on this time. Harry gasped having the air knocked out of him and started slapping Neville's arm demanding him to _get off._ Neville rushed out apologizes and rolled off Harry.

"What happened? Neville, what was the rune for?" Harry said after catching his breath and sitting up annoyed. Neville whimpered and covered his eyes with his hands, not even bothering to get off the ground.

"Trevor was stuck in another universe, _our universe_. I was helping him return to his own, when, well," Neville sighed defeated, turning too look at Harry his eyes filled with frustrated tears. Harry blinked, first in disbeliefe, then in shock, shaking his head in denial at the implications that set in.

"No, the rune just transported us to some forest. We need to get back to Hogwarts and they will fix us up." Harry whispered.

"Harry," Neville turned towards Harry, voice broken, "magic's _gone_."

Harry's heart fell all the way down to his stomach and he instantly felt sick. He felt it, of course, but it was a different thing to hear it out loud. Instantly his hands started to shake with renewed vigor and they came up and gripped at his hair. Falling back and joining Neville on the ground, he let out a sob. Neville reached out and grabbed Harry's hand, squeezing it tight.

Harry and Neville both cried on the forest floor. They cried over the lost of their magic, and the lost of their whole world. They fell asleep like that, holding hands in a tight iron grip, oblivious to everything around them.

When they woke several hours later it was dark. Despite having woken up and calmed down considerably they never let go of the other. They hunched together in a shadow of a tree, Neville whispering to Harry in hushed tones, explaining about ninja and the things he felt were important. They were both scared out of their wits, jumping at shadows and flinching. The fact that there were super ninja everywhere and they didn't even have their _wands,_ was terrifying. The whispered conversation was silenced when they heard the rustling of a bush.

Neville gripped Harry's hand so tight it started to throb. They both jumped violently when an innocent cat sprang from the bushes. Letting out a long breaths of relief, Harry glared at the cat in annoyance. Bringing up his free hand he waved it violently at the cat.

"Shoo!" Harry hissed, "shooshooshoo _shoo_."

The cat sat impassively grooming itself and Harry grumbled in annoyance while Neville placated him in whispers. Their whispered conversation soon turned to their new looks and they both came to the startling conclusion that they looked very similar, almost identical even.

"It might have been a side effect of us…traveling?" Harry said confused is mind still befuddled about being in another dimension, while Neville shook his head.

"It couldn't have. It cant change things that aren't there. Trevor was written very specifically in the rune, but we _weren't_ and the last I checked neither one of us had white hair." Neville explained, "Just be happy we haven't mixed with anything that was a part of Trevor."

Harry shuddered imagining it, before glancing at the cat across from them and remembering Hermione's unfortunate cat transformation, grinning. Neville looked at him curiously and Harry started telling the story about the "espionage mission" they went on in their second year. Soon they were both laughing and Neville was shaking his head in disbelief;

"Hermione helped? And then she ended up turning into a _humanoid cat_?!"

Harry laughed, nodding his head clutching his side; "Oh, yeah, you wouldn't even _believe_ some of the things we have convinced her to do over the years."

Harry chuckled before his mouth came down in a frown and he felt a pang of loss wondering if he would ever see his friends again. Startled out of his musings, Harry glanced at Neville who had given a surprised gasp. Neville turned towards Harry with hope in his eyes;

"We are not completely helpless! Harry, Trevor taught me all about runes. They can protect us!"

Harry blinked in surprise while Neville searched the pockets of his robes, muttering excitedly to himself. He eventually pulled out an ink well and a brush with a happy giggle and stared at Harry with a big smile on his face. Harry recognized the look, it was the; "I'm a genius at herbology, deal with it' look. Though in this case it was probably a; "be jealous I'm a genius at runes too" look.

Neville and Harry crawled out from behind the shadow of the tree and into the moonlight. Following Neville's lead they both proceeded to take off their overly large robes and bed shirts. Neville then covered their arms and chests (and back in Harry's case) with runes. Harry questioned Neville why they couldn't just make a giant seal to send them back home had Neville shaking his head;

"That was super complicated, and if I messed up, it could cost us our lives."

Harry glanced at the runes covering his arms in alarm but allowed Neville to continue to draw them on the both of them. Neville worked till the sun started to rise and soon Harry and Neville had both of their overly large clothing on once again.

"Okay, how do we use these runes then?" Harry asked, pushing back his sleeve and looking at the black swiggles up and down his arms.

"Oh, you just activate them by channeling magic into them." Neville said simply, before freezing his eyes widening. Harry groaned and face palmed while Neville's legs gave out and he fell helplessly to the floor whimpering.

"So they're basically useless." Harry said while Neville rolled around dramatically on the ground in affirmative.

"All my hard work!" Neville complained, throwing his arm over his eyes. Harry shook his head in bemusement, not even finding it in himself to be annoyed or angry. Glancing at the sun getting progressively higher in the sky Harry helped Neville off the ground.

"We should get moving." Harry said, looking around at the trees. Neville looked at Harry confused;

"And go _where_?"

"Well it sounds like Trevor told you a lot about this world, don't you know where we could go?" Harry questioned

"No, he conveniently forgot to give me a map." Nevilled deadpanned, making Harry's lip twitch. Rolling his eyes in good humor he gestured to the small clearing they appeared in;

"It wouldn't make sense to stay here."

Neville bit his lip and shrugged in reply and they slowly made their way through the forest.

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 **Three Days Later, In Konoha**

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Hiruzen Sarutobi groaned and his head thunked down to his desk with a loud _thump_. If his Anbu guards were surprised, they gave no indication, standing rigidly. Slowly the Third Hokage brought his head up before banging it back down on his desk. As always, his guards stood stoically. The older man groaned again, his hands coming up to grip his hair in frustration. He straightened up when he felt a familiar chakra approach and wound his fingers together.

The chakra game closer, not even bothering to knock and threw the door open. Sarutobi's hand flew up and he waved away his Anbu guards and they flashed away.

"Ah—Tsunade," The Third started before his sentence was cut off by a loud _bang,_ Tsunade slamming down a file in her hands making the desk crack under the force. Crossing her arms and fuming, Tsunade scowled. Sarutobi let out a long breath, and gave the file a defeated look.

"Do I even need to look at it?" he sighed his fingers coming up and massaging the bridge of his nose. Tsunade growled;

"Whats going to happen to those boys?"

The Third Hokage sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time that day and shook his head saying nothing. Tsunade snarled before pacing back and forth mumbling under her breath. They sat in silence for a long time; an old man contemplating and a women striding around the room in agitation.

They both froze when they felt a presence approaching at slow pace. Tsunade's eyebrow twitched and she cracked her knuckles threatening. The Third couldn't help another sigh that escaped; "Contain yourself, we need him alive."

Tsunade looked as if her dreams had been crushed and spat on. The door finally opened and Jiraiya stepped out, his long white hair swinging along with his steps. He smiled "charmingly" at Tsunade, who hissed, and approached the Hokage's desk. Starting to sweat from the gaze getting burned into his back from the "princess", Jiraiya opened his mouth to speak when the third cut him off;

"There is a hostage situation."

Jiraiya straightened up all business his eyes narrowing. If a village would risk this in the middle of a war, then that would mean this hostage was _important_. They wouldn't bother with it unless they thought it gave them leverage.

"Who is it?"

Much to Jiraiya's surprise the Third just shook his head and pushed the file on the desk towards him. Picking it up curiously Jiraiya flipped though the file. He was looking for any type of clan seals or names that popped out, seeing nothing. It wasn't till he stumbled upon some photographs did he pause. There were two photographs, of what seemed the to be the same person but at a closer look, Jiraiya noticed they were twins. That wasn't what was so shocking though, it was the looks these two boys shared. White spiky hair sat atop their heads. Grey stormy eyes stared at him in shock and fear and what was even more telling was the red lining their eyes, it coming down just a little like it did when he was a child himself.

Suddenly Jiraiya's throat became very dry and swallowing was almost impossible. He flipped through the file looking for what he already knew was there. Finding it he saw the positive match and if possible, it became even harder to breath. Shakily he flipped back towards the photographs and pulled them out and put the folder back on the desk. Staring in shock at the two boys, _children_ , Jiraiya felt his whole life shifting on its axis.

He jumped at a touch on his shoulder and looked over to see Tsunade looking at him. Never in his life had he seen Tsunade look at him that way before. It wasn't in anger and annoyance, her eyes were soft, _sorry_. Jiraiya looked down at the Third pleadingly, but quickly looked away not liking the expression on the mans face.

"Jiraiya," Sarutobi started softly, "So many lives have been lost in this war, and its finally drawing to a close, I can _feel_ it."

The Third sighed his shoulders carrying the weight of a war and the responsibility on hundreds of people.

"We can't afford this right now."

Jiraiya bit his bottom lip and felt his heart breaking for two boys he didn't even know. His boys. It was all his fault and suddenly Jiraiya found himself another purpose in life. It hurt more than anything to know that these boys might be dead before he even had the chance to meet them.

* * *

Coming Soon: Ch. 2 Toadally Screwed


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